Shadows and Whispers
by Coz
Summary: [Complete] When Sam is attacked at home, SG1 must find what is responsible.
1. Chapter 1

"God, I'm bored", Colonel Jack O'Neill grumbled as he watched his good friend, Dr Daniel Jackson, investigating the ruins in front of them.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes; he could tell Daniel was excited, more than excited actually, as was evident from the way he was skipping round. He could not help but to shake his head at the enthusiasm of the archaeologist, even after four years he was still at a loss to how anyone could find some old rocks and bits of pottery even slightly interesting.  
  
He picked up a few loose stones from the ground and started juggling to pass the time, they had not seen any sign of any current civilization, just a very old and ruined one, this left nothing for the Colonel to do except to kick his heels out and make sure his friend did not get overly excited and trip over his own feet, which, at this point, was looking rather too plausible for Jack's liking.  
  
After a few hours of watching Daniel, Jack rediscovered his penchant for juggling and found himself also dreaming wistfully for a very large steak. He was not the sort of person who gave in to day dreams, particularly when off world, but after so many days on this planet there was little if anything to interest him. It had even been overcast the entire time they had been there meaning that Jack could not even do some astronomy at night.  
  
Jack was longing to get home, have a long hot shower and head to O'Malley's. He had practically begged for them to be allowed back in O'Malley's after the whole fight incident caused by those damned armbands Anise had given them and the owner had finally relented the day before they left for this planet.  
  
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a crackle of static and Carter's voice coming over the radio.  
  
"Colonel, come in."  
  
"Go ahead Major."  
  
"Teal'c and I are done for the day and are heading back to base camp."  
  
"Acknowledge Major, we should be there in fifteen."  
  
"Understood, Sir."  
  
Colonel O'Neill looked over at the archaeologist; he was obviously oblivious to the radio conversation.  
  
"Daniel, hey Daniel! Time to call it a day."  
  
"No.ah.Jack, please just another half hour."  
  
"No Daniel", Jack said, putting on his best 'command' voice. "It's getting dark and you know we're here to survey, we're not here long term."  
  
"Thank God", he added under his breath. Daniel looked crestfallen, despite the numerous amounts of times it was explained to him, he still has the habit of getting totally caught up in the moment if he considered something to be the archaeological find of the century. Seeing the determined look on Jack's face Daniel relented and after packing up followed Jack back to the base camp.  
  
Carter and Teal'c made it back before them and had rekindled the fire. His second-in-command appeared to be making a start on dinner, mmm.MRE's, he could not wait to see what was on the menu for that night.  
  
"Find anything of interest Major?"  
  
"No Sir, as before, only traces amounts of Naquadah. This means no Goa'uld but no real signs of anything else recent so.."  
  
"So intergalactic waste of time."  
  
"I don't know Sir. Daniel seemed to have found enough to keep himself amused."  
  
"And luckily he has not got himself into any trouble, yet."  
  
"There's still time of course", Jack added in afterthought as Daniel, his nose in a book, stumbled on a tree root and almost fell flat on his face.  
  
"Danny boy, maybe you should, I don't know, look where you're going."  
  
"I believe O'Neill speaks the truth Daniel Jackson. It is most difficult to read whilst walking. Perhaps you should engage in one activity only at any one time", Teal'c added and resulted in Sam letting out a small laugh.  
  
"Thanks guys," Daniel said exasperated "I'm fine by the way, thanks for the concern."  
  
"Dinner's ready, sir."  
  
"What we got?"  
  
"Uh.macaroni and cheese."  
  
"The macaroni and cheese that tastes like chicken?"  
  
"That would be the one", Carter said apologetically.  
  
The idea of steak drifted back into Jack's head as he contemplated the culinary delight in front of him. As they ate Daniel began filling them in on what he had found; "The ruins appear to be similar to ones found in Greece but there are some subtle differences between the two."  
  
Jack phased out what the archaeologist was saying and looking at the rest of his team it appeared as if Carter and even Teal'c have followed suite and Daniel, being Daniel, did not notice that he had lost his audience. Jack did not have the heart to stop his talking, he knew the death of Robert Rothman had hit his friend hard.  
  
After about an hour, most of which was filled with Daniel talking about some ancient civilization or another Jack decided that it was time they got some sleep. Daniel was given the first watch, followed by Teal'c, then Carter and he had taken the final watch. Even though they had been on the planet for four days and seen nothing, threatening or otherwise, they still kept up the watches.  
  
As Teal'c woke Sam for her watch she grunted and sank further into the sleeping bag, it was only when he threatened to soak her with water from his canteen that she woke up enough to begin her two hour watch.  
  
As she positioned herself as close to the fire as possible to keep warm in the crispness of the night air she cursed Colonel O'Neill for teaching Teal'c that being covered in cold water tends to wake a person up very quickly.  
  
Sam was almost through with her watch when she heard something and her ears strained to pick up the sound. She swore she could hear whispering though she could not find the source. Her military training immediately kicked in, she raised her P90 and scanned the tree line. As she was doing this Colonel O'Neill chose that moment to emerge for his watch, the sudden noise caused Sam to spin round and aim her weapon at O'Neill.  
  
"Woah Major, jumpy tonight?"  
  
"I heard something sir, at least I think I did."  
  
"What kind of something?" he asked, concerned, his hand on his P90 ready for action.  
  
"Whispering, I heard whispering." O'Neill looked slightly dubiously at his 2IC but he knew Major Carter did not scare easily and she did seem slightly spooked by what she had heard.  
  
"Major, wake Daniel and Teal'c, we'll do a sweep of the area, check for anything out of the ordinary."  
  
"Yes sir", Carter replied, relieved that O'Neill was willing to accept what she said, even though she was not 100% convinced she'd heard anything.  
  
The search had turned up nothing, which left Sam feeling slightly embarrassed and guilty for disturbing everyone's sleep but no one seemed to blame her. Daniel in particular seemed glad at the earlier than anticipated start, he was eager to spend at least another few hours at one of the many ruins on the planet before SG-1 were due to return to the SGC at 13h00.  
  
After dismantling the base camp in preparation for their return home, and as they were preparing to head out to the nearest ruin, Sam noticed her pack was open. She shook her head as she closed it back up, she was sure that it had been closed before.  
  
"Is everything alright Major Carter", Teal'c asked.  
  
"Yeah, fine just more tired than I thought", she replied as she grabbed her things and set off after the Colonel and Daniel.  
  
O'Neill was relieved as he walked down the ramp back at Stargate Command, not that it had been a difficult mission, just a boring one and he now had his favourite part of the off world mission to follow, the post mission physical, who could not enjoy being poked, prodded and jabbed with a BIG needle.  
  
As SG-1 took their places on the infirmary beds O'Neill began ribbing Carter about the previous night, which Sam took all in good humour since she has expected it earlier.  
  
"Hey doc, maybe you should check Carter's hearing while you're at it", Jack teased as Doctor Fraiser went to finish up Carter's exam.  
  
"Colonel?"  
  
"Carter heard something last night and got all excited."  
  
"What did you hear Sam?"  
  
"I swear I heard whispering, but I guess I could have been mistaken."  
  
"Hmm", was all that Jack chose to add - for now.  
  
"You're probably tired." Once again Janet used the opportunity to goad Sam about her workaholism, "You've got three days of down time, use it catch up on sleep, relax, at least leave the base." Turning around she gave the rest of the team one of her stern looks, "That goes for all of you."  
  
The last comment wiped the smiles of Jack and Daniels faces. Janet smiled smugly as she gave them a clean bill of health and cleared them to leave the mountain for their much needed break but she knew that most, if not all of SG-1, would spend at least spend at least some of their vacation time working on the base.  
  
"So." Colonel O'Neill started as SG-1 rode in the elevator up to the surface.  
  
"So. what?" Daniel replied.  
  
"O'Malleys? Steak.beer.fun..steak", he said emphasizing the last word.  
  
"Aren't we banned?"  
  
"Not any more, I sorted it out", Jack smiled smugly at the happy reactions from his team mates at the good news.  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
"I'm in."  
  
"I too will attend."  
  
"Great, nice hat by the way T", Jack added, looking at the 6'3 Jaffa. He had to hide a grin at his friend's latest piece of headgear, a large white Stetson. Daniel had explained that Teal'c recently discovered country music and was eager to go line dancing during their time off. As they travelled to their respective homes Jack could not help imagining Teal'c in full country and western gear dancing to Johnny Cash in a bar with saw dust on the floor and this caused him to chuckle to himself at the notion.  
  
"Does something amuse you O'Neill?"  
  
"No nothing T", Jack replied but with the smile still on his face.  
  
"Course not Jack", Daniel said sceptically from his side.  
  
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Sam pushed open the front door of her house and picked up the mail that had collected. She idly flicked through it as she listened to her answering machine's messages. Despite the fact that she had been away for almost five days there were surprisingly few messages, one from her brother asking her to visit and another a wrong number. She separated the bills from the junk mail, which she tossed disgustingly into the trash. She left the bills on the kitchen counter for her to sort out the next day, as much as she hated to admit it Janet was right, she was tired.  
  
As she dug through her purse for her keys she pulled out a lipstick and looked at it confused. "This isn't mine," she thought "maybe it's Janet's." Shrugging at this small mystery she put it on the side and reminded herself to ask her friend about it the next time she saw her. Pulling her keys out of her purse and locking the house up for the night she headed to bed. She was asleep within minutes.  
  
Sam stared in to the fire, the jumping flames combined with the crackling of the logs hypnotised her. Suddenly the noise of the fire disappeared, as did all of the other natural sounds. She stood up and looked around her but saw no sign of anything, no threat and not a lot of anything, except the now silent fire.  
  
Then, suddenly she heard the whispering, just as she had the previous night but with the surrounding silence it seemed much louder than it had previously. She strained to make out what was being said, the whispering voice seemed to be rapidly approaching her from behind, as it neared Sam swore she could hear her name among the whispering.  
  
Sam span round as the sound appeared to be coming from all around her and she kept spinning round, trying to ascertain the source of the sound. Suddenly the sound was right on top of her and she could feel hands grabbing her arms.  
  
With a small yelp Sam woke up and immediately sat up in bed, breathing heavily, the covers of the bed tangled around her legs. As she untangled herself and got up to get a drink of water her thoughts returned to the nightmare. She was not sure why it was bothering her so much, she'd had much worse in her time, particularly after Jolinar had entered and died in her brain but this particular nightmare was weighing heavily on her mind.  
  
She looked over at the clock on the VCR, it was past four in the morning, on any other day she would have headed to the SGC early, but as she had some time off she might as well go back to bed and try to fall asleep again.  
  
As she was just about to get back into the bed she felt a presence and before she could turn a strong hand grabbed her arm. As a reflex she clenched her free hand into a fist and swung around, surprised when she hit nothing but air. Another hand came swinging though the air, landing a painful blow across her face and had Sam not been restrained by the arm the force of the blow would have caused her to fall.  
  
The next blow was delivered to her kidneys and the hand restraining her arm gripped her more tightly, painfully. She tried to swing with her free arm but to her horror she heard and felt her right arm break as a second hand grabbed it and manipulated it with force. Suddenly she was released and fell to the floor, grunting in pain. As she hit the floor she span round and finally saw her attacker and what she saw made her gasp. It was humanoid in shape but it had no other human features - it was just grey.  
  
Whatever it was, it was unrelenting in the attack. She tried to kick out and managed to strike a couple of blows but it seemed to have no effect. Feet flew in to connect to Sam's ribs, causing her to yelp in pain. The attack continued and whatever blows she managed to land had no effect, while her assailant managed to rain one painful blow after another on her already rapidly bruising body.  
  
Sam knew that unconsciousness was not far off, her vision was blurring and her head spinning, it was becoming clear that there was no way that she was going to be able to defeat this thing in hand to hand combat but she had one more option.  
  
Pulling herself along the floor using her good arm, she tried to ignore the barrage of blows and as she reached her bed side table she used it to pull her self up slightly. Using all the energy she had remaining she hit out and for the first time it seemed to affect the creature, although slightly.  
  
Sam used the brief respite to reach into the drawer and pull out her gun. She aimed the 9mm Beretta and pulled the trigger which resulted in her felling hard to the floor, yelling in pain. The creature let out a high pitched scream and turned around to disappear out of the room, leaving Sam struggling for breath on the floor.  
  
After a few minutes, in which Sam regained enough strength to move, she pulled herself along the floor to the other side of the bed to where she kept the phone. This exertion was too much for her and she slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
Half an hour later she regained consciousness enough to once again made a bid for the phone. Grabbing the phone with one hand she pulled it down but cried out in pain as the base hit her broken arm. The vertical motion was immediately put down as a bad idea as Sam vomited; this action brought her even more pain as her broken ribs protested in response.  
  
She hit the speed dial and held the handset to her ear as she fought to remain conscious, after a few rings the phone was answered.  
  
"What?" came the gruff voice, still obviously half asleep.  
  
"Sir?" came the quiet reply.  
  
"Carter, that you?"  
  
Sam tried to speak but all that came out was a weak grunt.  
  
"Carter, are you alright, what happened?" Hearing no reply Jack's voice became frantic "Carter, talk to me! Come on Sam."  
  
"Something.here.not human.attack.hurt.help", came the reply.  
  
O'Neill was relieved to hear Sam's voice but still incredibly concerned by the lack of strength in her voice.  
  
"Hold on Sam, helps on the way, I'm on my way, just hold on."  
  
He hung up the phone and immediately dialled the number for the SGC infirmary, absently wondering when he has learnt the infirmary's direct number, and demanded that an ambulance be sent to Sam's house.  
  
He had debated calling 911 but since Sam had mentioned a possible alien attacker he thought it might be prudent to get her straight to the SGC. He threw on the clothes he had less than elegantly deposited on the floor the night before, grabbed his keys and cell phone from beside the bed and as an afterthought grabbed his gun. As he was running out the house he dialled Dr Fraiser's home number and filled the sleepy doctor in on what has occurred as he sped towards Sam's house. After Janet has promised to meet him there his next call went to Daniel.  
  
"Daniel, get up", Jack ordered as soon as the phone was picked up.  
  
"What, Jack that you?"  
  
"It's Sam, someone attacked her at home."  
  
"How bad? Is she OK?"  
  
"Dunno, I'm on my way over there now."  
  
"I'll meet you there", Daniel replied frantically.  
  
As Jack was on the phone to Teal'c, who promised to meet them at the SGC, Jack pulled up at Sam's house; he was the first one there.  
  
He ran up to the front door, his gun out. He tried the door and finding it locked he kicked the lock hard, as he kicked it a second time, it flew open and Jack ran inside, absently swatting at a moth that flew at him, scanning the house for threats.  
  
He entered Sam's bedroom, seeing a blood stain on the polished wood floor. His stomach clenched as he rounded the bed and found Sam laying unconscious on the floor, the phone handset still in her hand and her gun in the other.  
  
"Oh God", Jack muttered as he ran over to her, careful not to move her. He checked her pulse and respiration and relaxed slightly when he found her pulse, it was slow and weak but it was there, her breathing worried him more, the ragged sound and the apparent difficulty she was having breathing seemed to indicate that she had a punctured lung, probably from a broken rib.  
  
Jack could see that she was hurt badly and wished the ambulance would hurry. He swore under his breath as he realised he had not alerted the SGC to the possibility of an unknown alien hostile running around and beating up SGC officers and accordingly phoned the base from his cellphone. The duty officer promised to send a team to Carter's house to see if there were any traces and promised to sweep the base and check all the recent security tape footage for anything out of the ordinary. This taken care of her turned his attention back to Carter.  
  
"Come on Carter."  
  
"Sir?" came the familiar voice of the SGC's Chief Medical Officer.  
  
"Doc, in the bedroom", Colonel O'Neill replied.  
  
As Janet entered and saw her friend unconscious on the floor she gasped, the medics who followed her in rushed passed her and over to Sam and began working on her immediately. Janet followed shouting orders at the medics.  
  
"I need a c-spine collar and back board," she said, one of the medics ran "what's her BP?"  
  
"BP 90 over 50, pulse 50, resps 80."  
  
"Where's that backboard, we need to get her to the infirmary, I think she's bleeding internally."  
  
"Is she gonna be alright doc?"  
  
"I hope so Sir, I hope so."  
  
Just as Sam was being taken out of her house Daniel arrived. Shocked at the sight he ran over to Sam shouting her name but she did not react.  
  
"What happened Jack?"  
  
"I don't know, she phoned me, said something about being attacked by some alien or something. I came round here and found her like this, still clutching her gun. Jack found his voice shaking as the adrenaline he had been running off dissipated and the shock of the nights events hit him. Daniel reached out and touched his friends arm, he closed his eyes as they loaded Sam into the back of the ambulance.  
  
As the ambulance sped off Dr Fraiser came over to them, she told them that she was heading up to the mountain and that they should follow and without waiting for their acknowledgement she headed over to her car and sped off after the ambulance. Jack immediately jumped into his truck and followed the doctor with Daniel following right behind him. 


	2. Chapter 2

Jack sat in a ubiquitous hard plastic chair, staring at the cold concrete floor of the infirmary, Daniel had taken up pacing the floor, shooting nervous looks at the door whenever he heard anyone walking passed, and Teal'c was standing guard at the door. Not one of them was talking, all preferred to remain quiet with only their thoughts to keep them company.  
  
Since Doctor Fraiser had decided that Major Carter needed immediate surgery to repair internal bleeding they had been sitting anxiously waiting for any news on their friend. The medical personnel were so used to SG-1's presence in the infirmary, whenever one of their group was injured, that they paid little attention to them.  
  
As Janet walked in to the infirmary she ran her fingers through her hair, in a half hearted attempt to undo the damage that the surgical cap did to it, and she was immediately met by three pairs of emotion-filled eyes, all looking for answers.  
  
"She's going to be fine, but it's going to take some time." Janet could hear all three of them exhale audibly.  
  
"What's the damage?" Daniel asked nervously.  
  
"Badly broken arm, which we've set, lacerated spleen, bruised kidneys, fractured cheekbone, four broken ribs, one of which punctured her lung resulting in a haemo-pnuemothorax for which we've fitted a chest drain, a concussion and multiple contusions and abrasions. I want to keep an eye on her for a while but she's gonna be just fine."  
  
"Can we see her?" Jack asked, putting on his innocent pleading face. Janet knew she would not get any peace from the men until they have gotten to see Sam with their own eyes therefore she considered the matter for a few seconds and eventually decided to allow them in even if it was just for a little while.  
  
"Okay, but only for five minutes. She's still not over the anaesthetic."  
  
The tone of her voice made it very clear that she was not going to be bullied into letting them stay any longer than that. She led them to one of the isolation rooms, the decision had been made to keep Sam out of the regular infirmary for now. It was easier for Fraiser to monitor her there but there was also the fact that there was no sign of the creature that had attacked her therefore it was easier to guard her there away from the rest of the infirmary.  
  
Jack was the first one of the group to enter the room. Upon resting his eyes on Sam laying on the bed he could not help but to stop in his tracks out of shock at her appearance and the severity of her injuries.  
  
Her face was so badly bruised and her left eye was swollen shut, a mass a purple and blue. A small white bandage covered a spot just above her right eyebrow; black stitches pinched her bottom lip, the surrounding redness a contrast to the paleness of the rest of her lips. Her right arm was cast in pristine white plaster from her knuckles to half way up her upper arm. A clear plastic tube snaked from under the blanket and it was attached to a plastic container with a small amount of blood in the bottom. Jack knew from experience that this tubing was removing the blood from the interior of her damaged lung.  
  
Daniel stepped passed Jack, who was still taking in the sight of his second- in-command, his friend, that was laying badly injured because of some 'thing' they have not been able to find at all. The Archaeologist took Sam's hand that was not cast in plaster in both of his which caused her to turn her head around and she was met by an ever so slight smile. Sam returned the smile but stopped immediately since the action caused a painful pulling of the stitches on her lip.  
  
"How are you feeling Sam?" Daniel asked quietly.  
  
"Sore", she replied in a husked voice.  
  
"What happened", Jack's voice appeared calm but Daniel knew it was laced with anger and frustration.  
  
"I woke up.I went to get some water, as I was heading back to bed I was.I was grabbed from behind. I tried to fight it but it was too strong.I managed to get my gun and I shot it.it screamed and ran."  
  
It was painfully obviously that it was difficult for Sam to talk about what had happened, her voice was wavering and a few tears escaped from one of her eyes.  
  
"What did it look like?"  
  
"Grey."  
  
"What, like Thor?" Daniel was obviously confused by this statement and when he glanced at Jack and Janet he knew he was not the only one.  
  
"No, it was human, in shape at least but it was grey, it had no facial features.no nothing, just grey", Sam was getting agitated as she tried to convey her description and Janet decided that it was time to step in and allow her patient to get some well needed rest.  
  
"Okay, time's up. Sam needs to rest."  
  
The Colonel locked Janet in his gaze, she knew that they wanted to stay, as a friend she would not have hesitated to let them stay as long as they wanted, but as a doctor she knew she could not allow it. It was Jack that gave in first and he nodded his head slightly to indicate his acceptance.  
  
He walked over and stood behind Daniel, "Hey Carter, Doc's throwing us out but we'll come back later."  
  
As Jack spoke he noticed something akin to fear appearing in Sam's eyes. This shocked him since he was not used to Sam being afraid, he had seen her stare down Goa'uld system lords and here she was afraid to sleep in a room by herself. He was not the only one to notice this.  
  
"I will remain outside the room while you sleep Major Carter."  
  
"Thanks Teal'c", Sam said quietly and relieve washed over her face. Daniel gave her hand a quick squeeze as they left the room.  
  
"There's nothing you can do now, go and get some sleep", Janet ordered. She knew her order would probably fall on deaf ears but what kind of doctor would she be if she did not at least try. She gave the group one last sympathetic glance before heading back in to check on her patient.  
  
As he had promised Teal'c took guard outside the room and Daniel and Jack headed off down to corridor.  
  
"So what now?" Daniel asked as they reached the elevator.  
  
"What do you reckon of the description Sam gave?"  
  
"I dunno Daniel, seems weird. I mean, you think someone would notice a human shaped grey blob walking round."  
  
"True, but something did this to her and I don't doubt Sam's description - too much anyway. We've got to find it Jack."  
  
"I know Daniel, I know. I'm off to see General Hammond. I said I'll see him after we'd seen Carter. What's your plan?"  
  
"I'm going to try and translate what was written on the ruins on P4Y 379, maybe there's something there, some clue as to what could have done this."  
  
As the elevator stopped at level 18, he made to exit but stopped for a few seconds and turned around to his friend.  
  
"She's gonna be ok Jack."  
  
"Yeah, so the Doc said."  
  
"I don't mean that, you saw the look in her eyes too, but I know she'll be alright."  
  
Jack just smiled weakly, he knew what Daniel meant, they will help her to deal with what happened to her. Dr Jackson walked off towards his office as the elevator headed further down into the mountain.  
  
***  
  
"How's she doing, Jack?" Major-General George Hammond asked Jack as he entered his office.  
  
"Doc Fraiser says she going to be alright, given time. Is there any news on what did this to her Sir?"  
  
"No, the sweep of her house found nothing and there's nothing out the ordinary on any of the security tapes or the computer logs. Did Major Carter give a description of her attacker?"  
  
"Yes Sir, she said it was human in shape but just. grey."  
  
He shook his head at the seemingly implausibility of the description. The fact that he doubted Carter was making him feel even worse. It was so unlike him to ever doubt her because frankly she was hardly ever wrong. General Hammond nodded slightly. He could see O'Neill was having a hard time.  
  
Jack, you said that you broke Major Carter's door down."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
"And you didn't see anything out of the ordinary inside?"  
  
"Just Carter laying unconscious on the floor. Why?"  
  
"Because the house was locked tight apart from the front door, which you broke down, that means."  
  
"That means that I let it out", Jack said quietly. Hammond could see the guilt playing on the younger man's face.  
  
"Jack.we don't know that."  
  
"We don't know anything."  
  
"Go get some sleep, you look done in."  
  
"Yes Sir." Jack said resignedly, turned and left the General's office. He headed back to the elevator and to Daniel's office via the commissary for a cup of much needed coffee.  
  
"Hey Daniel, you got anything?" Jack asked. As Daniel turned around to look at him he anticipated the answer, the frustration on the young man's face was evident.  
  
"Nothing, there's nothing here Jack, it basically says 'We were here' and not a lot more, it's all rubbish!"  
  
He threw a couple of the open books on his desk to the floor in exasperation. "Sam's hurt, she was attacked at home, one place where we're supposed to be safe and we don't even know what did it, let alone where that thing is or how to find it."  
  
Daniel was seething with anger. Jack was not used to this kind of outburst from Daniel, it was normally more his style and as a result he just raised his eyebrow which made Daniel look away sheepishly.  
  
Allowing himself a few minutes to compose himself he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"So what did General Hammond say?" Daniel asked calmed after his initial outburst.  
  
"I let it out of Sam's house, it's out there somewhere and I am the one responsible for having let it escaped into the outside world."  
  
Daniel read the dark expression on his friend's face, "Jack, it's not your fault; none of this is your fault."  
  
"An officer under my command was attacked by an unknown alien hostile, which was probably brought back from another planet and who I let out of her home and now you're trying to tell me that somehow I'm not to blame?"  
  
"You're not Jack and maybe one day you'll realise that you're not to blame for everything bad that happens to us."  
  
Sensing the doubt still plaguing the Colonel's soul Daniel tagged on for good measure, "You should get some sleep Jack."  
  
"That bad, huh?"  
  
"I take the fifth", Daniel smirked.  
  
Jack smiled at him slight "You're a good one to talk."  
  
"I'm going to get some sleep too Jack, just need tidy around here first."  
  
Jack looked round Daniels office, normally it was tidy but there were books and papers scattered over most of the surfaces and there were even books on the floor. "Yeahsureyoubetcha" Jack sniggered as he left Daniel behind to clean his office.  
  
Jack headed off to his quarters and could not help but notice that he was getting a lot of strange looks as he walked around the base. He was beginning to wonder if he had sprouted horns but as he looked into the mirror in his quarters he understood the strange looks, he had large dark smudges under his eyes, he was unshaven and his hair was a total mess.  
  
He headed to his bed and was asleep within minutes. He awoke a few hours later, feeling much more rested. He showered and shaved and changed into a clean set of BDU's and decided to head back to the infirmary. Janet probably would not let them back in to see Carter until the following morning but he had nothing else to do and so would take up 'guard' outside her room. It was not much but at least it was something her could do for her.  
  
"Hey T. Anything happened?"  
  
"Nothing has transpired O'Neill. Major Carter remains asleep."  
  
"I'll take over here, you go sleep or Kel'no'reem or whatever."  
  
"I will go and continue my Kel'no'reem, if you will remain here."  
  
"Sure thing." Jack took up Teal'c position outside the door. A few hours later, a greatly refreshed looking Dr Jackson joined Jack baring two cups of coffee. He offered to take over but Jack refused to leave. Together they remained like that, standing guard, for hours, neither speaking much.  
  
The night passed without incident and the following morning Janet moved Sam into the regular infirmary. There was no medical reason to keep her in the isolation room and it made it easier for SG-1 to stay with Sam that way.  
  
Janet had noticed how spooked her friend was by what happened and the fact that she became agitated whenever she was left alone. She had been sitting with Sam since she sent all of SG-1 off to get some food about an hour ago, none of them had bothered to eat properly since their friend's attack and that had been over 24 hours ago. She looked at her watch and realised that they should be back from the commissary very soon. Her timing was pretty good since Colonel O'Neill decided to walk trough the door at that moment and he gave the doctor an inquisitive look.  
  
"She's doing fine Colonel, nothing's changed. Where's Daniel and Teal'c?" Janet said, anticipating his question.  
  
"Daniel's off checking the video he took of those rocks on P4Y something-or- other and Teal'c is helping the SF's sweep the base with the TER's."  
  
Jack went and sat in the plastic chair next to Sam's bed and his eyes browsed over her face. Despite the bruising she looked at peace while asleep, when she was awake there was an indefinable something missing from her eyes, a sparkle which he had always seen in her except, maybe after the whole incident with Jolinar.  
  
An hour later, Jack was still at Carter's side, trying to get involved in his paperwork while she slept. He noticed her hand moving slightly before she opened her right eye, looking around the infirmary, trying to gain her bearings.  
  
"Hey Carter, how you feelin' today?"  
  
"Not bad, I guess."  
  
Jack did not believe her statement, he knew her well enough to know when she was lying. It was painfully obviously to him that she was anything but fine.  
  
"Do you wanna talk about it?"  
  
"What's there to say?"  
  
"Anything you noticed, saw, heard that could help us find it."  
  
"I dunno, everything's a bit of a blur."  
  
"There's gotta be something though?"  
  
Sam was getting agitated, she tried to sit up, momentarily forgetting the broken ribs and recent surgery and gasped in pain before laying back immediately.  
  
"Steady Carter or the Doc will have my arse."  
  
"It just, I hate not knowing what did this, or why!"  
  
"I know me too."  
  
Jack was determined to find the creature and quickly. The idea that he brought it back and let it passed him at Sam's house was eating him up from the inside.  
  
"Why don't you tell me exactly what happened from the time that you got home."  
  
Sam took as deep a breath as she could. Jack took her free hand and squeezed it gently, she squeezed back, feeling reassured by his presence.  
  
"When I got home, I sorted my mail and checked my messages. I realised I was really tired so I got my keys out of my purse and I found a lipstick of Janet's so I took that out and locked the door and went to bed. I woke up at about four from the nightmare I had, I guess."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"I was back on P4Y 379, by the fire and then it all went quiet. Then.I heard the whispering again but louder and I'm sure I heard my name. It kept getting louder and closer and I felt something grab my arms and that's when I woke up. I went and got some water and was heading back to bed when.you know."  
  
"Yeah. Do you reckon they're connected? The whispering, the nightmares and the um.attack?"  
  
"They could be I suppose."  
  
"Did you see where it went after you shot it?"  
  
"No, I guess it ran out the front door."  
  
"No, the house was sealed when I got there. I must have let it out."  
  
The guilt was all over Jack's face and this time Sam squeezed his hand to reassure him that there was nothing for him to feel guilty about.  
  
"So how long are you stuck in here for?"  
  
"At least a week."  
  
"Tough."  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
"We'll try to spring you early" he whispered conspiratorially.  
  
"I heard that!" Janet said walking over, she glared at O'Neill with her best doctor-knows-best look and for a second he wondered if the look was a prerequisite for entrance to medical school or if they taught it while you were working at the Stargate Program.  
  
"Janet, could you stop by my place and get a few bits for me?" Sam said, changing the subject.  
  
"Sure, what do you need?"  
  
"Some books, a couple of other bits and my plants need watering. Oh and I found one of your lipsticks in my purse, before. it's on the kitchen counter next to the mail."  
  
"Uh, sure thing. I'll stop by on my way home."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I'd better come with you." Jack said and when Janet gave him a confused frown he continued, "We still don't know what did this or where it is, so until then it's not wise to go to Sam's house alone. It might still be there." He fixed the doctor with his very best colonel-knows-best look until she relented.  
  
***  
  
As the Colonel opened Sam's repaired front door, this time using Janet's spare key, he felt a slight uneasy feeling in his stomach. As he entered he once again checked for threats. He was not sure exactly what he was looking for, he had done the same thing the other night and have seen nothing but according to all the information they had, the creature, whatever it was, was most properly still in the house when he arrived.  
  
Janet followed him into the house and headed straight for Sam's bedroom to get the few bits of clothing that Sam had requested. Jack instead headed to the study, his eyes trailed along the book shelves, and although he did not even understand most of the titles he grabbed all of the books that Sam had indicated on her list.  
  
After having ensured that he got all of the books he headed back into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the side and began watering the plants. He knew Sam liked her plants, even admitted that she talked to them, an admission which had lead to much ribbing from him.  
  
When Janet entered the kitchen after a while, she found Colonel O'Neill introducing himself to Sam's cyclamen, she smiled and cleared her throat which resulted in Colonel snapping upright and spinning around.  
  
"You ready Sir?"  
  
"Yep, you got everything?" Janet nodded her head in reply.  
  
"Didn't Carter mention something about a lipstick?"  
  
"Yeah, I didn't really get that, I don't see how she got one of my lipsticks. She said it was on the kitchen counter."  
  
"Uh, don't see it Doc", Jack said scanning the area.  
  
"Never mind, Sam was probably mistaken."  
  
"I guess so, you ready to go?"  
  
Janet headed out of the house and was followed by Jack after he had ensured that the house was locked tight.  
  
"I might as well give this to you Sir, because you'll probably be back in the infirmary before I am", Janet said smiling handing the duffel bag to Jack, who did not even bother to deny it. He was planning to head back up the mountain after a few hours sleep; he had debated staying in his quarters on base but was looking forward to a night's rest in a bed that was not property of the US Air Force.  
  
"Night Doc. Say hi to Cassie for me and tell her we're still on for the hockey game on Saturday."  
  
"Will do, night Sir."  
  
He watched Janet get in her car and drive off before climbing into his truck and heading home himself.  
  
In the woodland that overlooked the Cheyenne Mountain base, a moth landed on a branch. Suddenly it changed colour, the muted browns becoming grey. It began to grow, slowly at first but then faster as it adopted a human physique. As soon as it stopped growing, it felt down to the ground where it rested for the time being.  
  
It was tired, it had been unable to rest for too long before and the injuries it suffered was taking a long time to heal as a result. It decided to recuperate for a few hours and could feel its strength returning and as dawn came it stood up and walked to a place where it could see the entrance to the military base, its knew instinctively it had to get back in there at all costs.  
  
It also knew it would not be difficult to get back inside since all that was required was someone to unwittingly carry it in. As the creature watched he saw a perfect opportunity, a Ford truck pulled up in the lot and Colonel Jack O'Neill stepped out into the morning light. 


	3. Chapter 3

**I want to say a HUGE thank you to Naliza for betaing this for me, you rock!  The best beta a girl could ask for!**

**And big thanks to everyone who has reviewed it so far, I'm grinning like a fool!  Please, please keep the reviews coming in, it makes me write faster so if you want to see the end of this thing, tell me what you think or else I'll get in a huff and stop writing!!  (Childish tantrum moment over :-)  )**

**Now on to why you came here….**

***

The first thing Colonel O'Neill did upon arrival at the SGC was to check if there were any new leads on the attack on Sam.  Some mention was made of sweeping Sam's house with TER's but it did not have the MO of a Reetou attack, so Jack severely doubted it would help. 

He figured that the security chief was just trying to appease him since he had been such a regular visitor there, asking about any leads they had, and he instinctively knew that he was most probably annoying the man a lot.  He left the office, once again asking to be informed if they found anything.

As he entered the infirmary he saw Sam and Daniel both sleeping peacefully.  Daniel was sitting in one of the uncomfortable infirmary chairs with his feet up on Sam's bed, his glasses crooked on his face and halfway down the bridge of his nose, with a book open in his lap.  The swelling around Sam's eye had abated slightly over night, Jack was happy to see even the slightest of improvement in her condition.

Jack greeted a couple of the infirmary nurses by name, grabbed a chair and sat across from Daniel. As he sat there his mind started wandering, once again he started pondering the situation regarding the missing lipstick and he could not explain to himself why he could not stop thinking about it.

He quickly switched his attention to Sam, who had begun twitching in her sleep.  The movements became more pronounced as she started mumbling, incoherently at first but then more audible words escaped her lips, the fear evident in her voice.  The sound woke Daniel, who looked confused for a few seconds but quickly pulled his feet away from Sam's bed and gave Jack a concerned look.

"What do you want? Stop! Please!"

Jack tried to rouse her by calling her name and when she did not respond he gently shook her arm.  Her eyes shot open as she let out a scream, cut short by the pain she felt, the uncharacteristic fear was obvious in her eyes.  

Jack took hold of her hand and addressed her ever so gentle, "Sam? You okay?" 

He knew that she was far from being alright but he did not know what else to say.  Sam looked around, seemingly unsure of her surroundings and as she realised where she was some of the fear melted away but, to Jack's dismay, was replaced immediately by pain.

"Sam, it's okay, you're safe", Daniel added soothingly from his side.

"Oh, God."

"Sam, what happened? What is it?"

"I heard them."

"Them, who?"

"What attacked me.  They were mad at us Sir, because we 'invaded' their planet.  The first time I heard them it was only a warning.  They wanted us to leave but I couldn't understand them."

"Why you Sam?"

"I…I don't know, maybe the Naquadah in my blood.  It's made me sensitive to other things before, It's all conjecture of course."  

Jack smiled slightly, only Carter or Daniel could use words such as conjecture despite the amount of pain they might be in, which obviously was the case with Sam at that moment.  

"We were on its territory, it wanted us to go and not come back so..."

"So it hitched a lift through the gate, followed you home and attacked you so we wouldn't go back to their planet.  Does anyone else find their logic faulty, they could've just have asked nicely.  Why don't we ever run into any polite aliens?"

"So, how did it get here?  We haven't seen any sign of it."

"Yeah and six foot grey blobs don't just blend into the background, even here."

"I…I dunno." Sam exhaled, "I wish I did and how it got to my house."

Daniel gave Jack a pointed look and gestured towards the door, Jack got the inference.

"Hey Sam, you go back to sleep, you're safe now", Jack said gently.  Sam closed her eyes and, as the peacefulness of sleep wrapped her in its arms, her ragged breathing slowed down and became more relaxed.

They knew they could not leave her alone, when she woke up later on she would need a friendly face to be at her side.  The attack had shaken Sam and everyone was slightly concerned about how she was coping and how she would deal with it when she was released from the infirmary.  

Janet arrived at that moment holding a cardboard tray containing three Starbucks cups with one hand and carrying her briefcase with another.  She put her briefcase down and handed a cup to each of the men. 

"I figured you would both be here and **not **sleeping", she said quietly in order not to wake her now peacefully sleeping patient.  O'Neill and Daniel both took their cups gratefully and the archaeologist in particular looked at it with some reverence.

"Caffeine junky", muttered Jack but Daniel just grunted quietly, clearly enjoying the hot coffee.

"Doc, can you keep an eye on Sam for us, she had a nightmare, apparently something came back with us from 379.  The last night we were there it was trying to get us to leave but we didn't get the message so it followed her home and attacked her", Jack said while pulling Janet away so they could speak, afterwards the doctor just shook her head in disgust at the news.

"I'm worried about her, she won't sleep if one of us isn't here, she freaks out if there's no one here when she wakes up, it's so unlike her."

"I know, I'm not used to seeing her so afraid either but being attacked like that, at home, where she was suppose to feel safe, has to be difficult."

"I know but it's weird, could you sit with her, friendly face and all that."

"Sure, I've got a ton of paperwork to do."

"Thanks Doc." 

Jack looked at Daniel and jerked his head towards the infirmary door and the younger man immediately stood and followed him out.  On their way to the elevator they met Teal'c, who was evidently on his way to see Carter.   They filled him in on what Sam had told them.

"So."  Daniel said as he closed the door.

"So?"

"What do you reckon about what Sam said?"

"I dunno, I hate to say it but could she be… nuts?"  

Daniel raised his eyebrows at this statement.

"Okay, maybe not nuts but…"

"It does sound odd but saying that I think we live in the home of odd."

"True.  So options?"

Daniel looked thoughtful, "Umm… invisible."

"An organism with the power to change its physical appearance at will."

"You mean a shape shifter."

"That would be a valid description."

"So, Teal'c, you haven't sensed a Reetou?"

"I have not O'Neill."

"And the TER's haven't found anything, so it's probably not an invisible…thing."

"You ever hear of a shape shifter Teal'c?"

"Indeed, when in service to Apophis I spent some time searching the star system known as the Roshan system for such a creature.  The search was unsuccessful."

"Not surprising, I mean with it being able to change shape at will it can't be the easiest thing to find.  And face it Apophis is not really the sharpest snake to crawl out of the primordial sea", Jack wryly observed.

"So it could have been a shape shifter that attacked Sam", Daniel said ignoring Jack's sarcasm.

"It's the best option we got."

"As the idea of an invisible foe has been discounted it is the only option we currently have."

"Thanks Teal'c", the Colonel said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"You are welcome O'Neill."

"So, what now?" Daniel asked.

"Now we find it."

"Okay, great plan.  How exactly?  This thing, assuming it is a shape shifter can look like anything."

Jack uttered a silent curse but it was something that had occurred to him as well, he had no idea how to find it.

"So Teal'c, can you think of anything which could help us find this…this thing?"

"Assuming it is the same creature I searched for it must return to its natural state every 24 hours for a period of at least one hour."

"Well, it's a start", Daniel said, not wholly convinced.

"We should tell General Hammond."

***

"So, if it is a shape shifter, how do we find it?"  Hammond asked.

"We're still working on that General."  Daniel said.

"I really hate to say this Sir but what about the Tok'ra." 

Jack's face showed his discomfort, his feelings about the Tok'ra were pretty much common knowledge.  General Hammond nodded.

"I sent a message to Jacob when Major Carter was attacked, the Tok'ra said he would be here as soon as he had completed the mission he's on."  

As he spoke the gate span in to action, the klaxons blared and a voice came over the speakers.  

"Unscheduled gate activation."

General Hammond stood and rushed to the control room followed by Jack, Daniel and Teal'c.  As they reached the large windows overlooking the gate it activated in its usual dramatic style.

"Receiving IDC, Sir."  Sergeant Davis informed Hammond.  "It's the Tok'ra."

"Now that's what I call timing Jake", Jack muttered.

"Open the iris", General Hammond instructed.

The metallic cover span expanded and a few seconds later Jacob Carter stepped through wearing the usual Tok'ra attire.

"Defence teams stand down," Hammond ordered as he headed out of the control room and down to the gate room.

"How you doing Jacob", General Hammond asked, approaching his old friend as he walked down the ramp.

"Fine, how's Sam?"  

Jacob was worried about his daughter since the Tok'ra was not given a lot of information about what had happened to her.

"She doing just fine Jacob, I'm sure she'll want to see you."

Jacob nodded a greeting in the direction of SG1 before heading out of the gate room and towards the infirmary, "Jack, Daniel, Teal'c."

Sam was still asleep when Jacob arrived in the infirmary.  Hammond had filled him in on the way from the gate room but left him at the door as they arrived at his destination.  Jacob took the opportunity to speak to Dr Fraiser who assured him Sam would recover in time.  

He thanked Janet for everything she had done and took up a seat beside his daughter's bed.  His heart bled at the sight of her injuries and with the uttermost of care he took hold of her free hand.  After a few minutes Sam's eyes flickered and she woke up.

"Sam," Jacob said gently "Sam honey, you're okay."  

"Dad." Sam smiled slightly.

"How you feeling, kiddo?"

"Not too bad.  It's good to see you dad."

"It's good to see you too and the best thing is Garshaw said I could have a week off so you're stuck with me for a while."

"That's great dad", Sam said, smiling one of the first true smiles since she was attacked.  She had not spent much time with her father for quite some time.  If only she was not stuck in the infirmary she might have been able to enjoy the time more but she rationalized in her mind that if she had not been injured he probably would not even be here.

"George says they've got a possible lead on what did this."

"Really?"

 "Yeah, they reckon it could be a shape shifter.  Apparently a few years ago Apophis had Teal'c looking for one close to where you were on your last mission."

"How close?"

"In gate terms next door, adjacent star systems apparently."

"So, what's the plan?"  

"There isn't one, yet, no one knows how to even find this creature."

"Selmak ever hear of a shape shifter."

"There are some stories about them among the Tok'ra but they've been pretty much dismissed as myth."

"Tok'ra urban legends?"

"Something like that."

"So what next?"  Sam was obviously eager to get involved.

"For you - Rest and recuperation."

"But dad…"

"But dad nothing.  You are in no condition to do **anything **but relax and get better."

"Fine."  Sam said resignedly.

"Good, so tell me what's been going on since I saw you last."

"We went to Russia, they had their own programme using the gate we thought was destroyed on Thor's ship and they had gated to this planet under water and…"

After a few hours of catching up Janet came over and gave Sam her next dose of painkillers, despite Sam's protest.  Janet always marvelled at the fact that the SGC's flagship team was so reluctant to take medication when required.

Once the painkillers took effect Sam drifted off to sleep.  Jacob looked at his daughter sadly, she look so vulnerable laying there and he, like any father, hated seeing her like that.  

Seeing that Sam was asleep he decided to duck out and change his clothes, even after all this time he was not overly keen on the Tok'ra idea of high fashion.  Once he changed into a set of BDU's he headed for the commissary.   

He hated to admit it but he was seriously missing coffee and more worryingly, Jello.  The Tok'ra did not have equivalents of either and the SGC always kept a ready supply of both and therefore the commissary was always high on Jacob's list of priorities when visiting Earth.

***

Sam once again stood by the fire on P4Y 379, she heard a noise and span around.  In front of her stood the thing that had attacked her, it did not move and Sam did not feel afraid.  As she watched it changed, morphing in to an MRE, a lipstick, a moth, a pack of chewing gum and a file before returning to it's natural humanoid state.  She turned back to face the fire and saw Daniel, Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, General Hammond, Dr Fraiser and her father standing in a semi circle.

_***_

Sam woke, she was not as afraid as she had been after waking from her other dreams.

 She blinked as her eyes acclimatised to the harsh infirmary lighting.  As the memories of her dream came floating back a realization hit her - she had brought this thing back with her and put her friends and family in danger.

She saw Jack standing across the room, fiddling with something and a small smile painted her lips.  The Colonel always found something to play with when waiting around in the infirmary.   Sam grinned slightly as she recalled the time he had nearly come to grief playing with a scalpel when waiting for Daniel to regain consciousness after a bad mission.  

Sam saw Jack suddenly looking sheepishly and quickly put whatever he was playing with down.  She could not be sure but she guessed that Janet had caught him playing with her instruments.  Despite her size Doctor Fraiser had quite a presence and one stern look from her could put even Colonel O'Neill in his place.  

Jack looked around and saw Sam was awake.  He walked over, smiling slightly.

"Hey Carter."

"Sir, where's my dad?"

"Off getting some sleep, apparently he just got back from some Tok'ra top secret mission…thing.

"Sir…um, it's all my fault."

"What is?"

"All this, I…um, brought it back, it disguised itself as a MRE and came back in **my pack, I put everyone here in danger."**

"Okay, first thing, **not **your fault and second, how do you know you brought it back?"

"I saw it in my dream, it's a shape shifter and when we were on P4Y 379 my pack was open and I was sure I had shut it.  I brought it back, I took it to my house and now it's somewhere on Earth and I think it's in the SGC now.  What if it comes back?" Sam added quietly.

"What makes you think it's in the SGC?"

"In my dream, I saw it as a file, an SGC file."

"Well, if it's here we'll find it, it cuts down the search from everywhere to just the SGC and you know I won't let anything hurt you again, none of us will."  Sam smiled ever so slightly.

"So can this ESPN stuff tell us any more?  Sam gave him a brighter smile this time, she was pretty sure that he had done that on purpose, to cheer her up.

"Not really."

"Not even the lottery numbers?"  This time Jack was rewarded with a small laugh from her.

"I wish we knew how to find it though, Sir."

"If it comes to it we'll just check every folder on base, there's not that many, is there?"  Sam just gave him another huge smile.

"I'd better go and update General Hammond, if you'll be okay?"  

Sam just nodded silently and Jack reluctantly left her side.

Daniel was in his office, trawling through all the possibly relevant information he could get his hands on, he had not found anything useful from either the video from P4Y 379 or Earth mythology.  

He was starting to get tired so he switched on his coffee machine and turned as Jack entered the office.

"How's Sam?" Daniel asked concerned.  Jack had only gone to the infirmary about an hour before.

"She's fine Danny, she had some bizarre dream thing, she reckons this thing is in the SGC disguised as a file."

"That's not good, we have to find it Jack."

"I know, I'm on my way to see General Hammond, thought I'd give you a heads up, it might have a grudge against SG-1 in particular."

"Thanks Jack, I feel **much **better", Daniel responded sarcastically.

"Well good, I'd better be going."

With Jack gone Daniel turned back to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup, relishing the taste and accompanied caffeine hit.  He headed back to the desk, looking suspiciously at the folders that were laying around the office.

He cursed Jack for putting him on edge but span suddenly as he heard a folder fall to the floor.  As he turned he saw what looked like an ordinary SGC folder starting to change colour and then size and shape.

He swore loudly, he knew he was in danger.  He had seen what this thing had done to Sam.  He began to back quickly to the door, as he reached the wall he hit the alarm, the sirens blared and the lights flashed.

The creature reached its full height and ran towards Daniel, who flung open the door.  He only made it to the corridor before the creature reached him, slamming a palm into Daniel's chest and forcing him backward in to the concrete wall.

Daniel slumped to the floor unconscious just as Jack rounded the corner with a group of SF's who immediately took aim at the unusual creature they saw before them.  Sensing the danger it was in, the creature screamed in such a loud and high pitched way it caused many of the SF's to cover their ears to block out the painful sound. 

Jack gritted his teeth and grabbed a gun from the nearest SF but before he could fire a shot the creature turned and ran away.  He gave chase but as he rounded the corner he could not see it and he uttered a silent curse under his breath.  It could be anywhere now and look like anything.  He could not see anything out of the ordinary but he knew it meant nothing at that moment.

He turned and ran back to where Daniel was.  The younger man was still unconscious and two SF's were busy giving him first aid.  Jack went into Daniel's office and grabbed the phone.  He ordered the whole base to be locked down since there was no way this thing was going to escape again.  He also requested a medical team for Daniel and increased security for Carter.

Jack was worried, this thing was definitely on base and was going after members of his team.  He was going to stop it even if it was the last thing he did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, the 4th and final chapter is here!  Sorry it took so long, real life got in the way!!  **

**Thanks for all the reviews I've had so far, you're all too good to me! Tell me what you think of the finished story and if it's worth me carrying on writing or should I just go in to retirement at the tender age of 20?**

**Once again, big thanks to Naliza (sorry about the previous spelling :-) ) for being a wicked beta!  Any mistakes are mine alone, by the way I know nothing about guns, it's all guesses and hear say if you didn't notice from the story!  **

**Oh and I don't own any of this except the story (I suppose) they all belong to someone who isn't stressed out about whether they've passed their exams and can actually go back to university!!  (Real life stuff, sorry :-)  )**

**Okay, story time!  If you're all sitting comfortably then I'll begin…**

Jack once again found himself in the infirmary waiting for one of his team to regain consciousness. Security was sweeping the base, although they knew the creature was contained it could be anywhere on the base.  The security in the infirmary was impressive, Jack had insisted on having a zat gun and 9mm with him, there were also four armed SF's both inside and outside the infirmary.

Jack sat between Sam and Daniel's beds.  Sam had been shaken by the attack on Daniel and was blaming herself for what happened.  Jack was also feeling guilty, he had been in Daniel's office a minute before the attack and had not managed to do anything to stop it and now a second member of his team was in the infirmary.

Jack looked up, reaching for the zat gun as he heard someone enter; he relaxed slightly as he saw that it was only Jacob.

"Sam, are you okay? George said the creature was spotted here on the base."

"I'm fine dad, it went after Daniel though."

"Is he alright?"

"He's still unconscious but Janet said he should be fine."

"That's good."

"Listen Jacob, how do we know you're you, I mean you could be the shape shifting alien pretending to be Jacob", Jack said with all seriousness.

"Jack please!"  Jacob said raising his eyebrows.

"Fine."

"Sir, there's no evidence that this thing can imitate something as complex as a human."

"But there's no evidence that it can't either." 

As Daniel regained consciousness, he mumbled slightly, Janet crossed over to him immediately.

"Daniel, Daniel can you hear me?"  Janet asked, shining a pen light in his eyes.  Daniel grunted weakly and turned his head away as the bright light shone in his eyes.

"Come on Daniel, play nice", Jack said dryly.

"J'ck it's here."

"We know, we're looking for it.  Six foot grey blob huh?"

"It looked like a folder then."

"Then six foot grey blob." 

"Yeah." Despite only being conscious for less than a minute Daniel was already sounding exasperated.

"How are you feeling Daniel?" Fraiser asked.

"Bit of a head ache but I'm fine, can I go now?"  Daniel asked, attempting to sit up.

"I don't think so Daniel, you were unconscious for twenty minutes, you're staying, at least overnight" Janet admonished.  "You know the rules."

"Fine." Daniel said resignedly.  

After two hours Daniel was practically begging everyone in sight to bring him some reading material and coffee, eventually after complaints from the nursing staff Janet had stolen Daniel's glasses leaving him unable to read properly.

The phone rang and Fraiser answered it.  Jack could not hear what was being said but could detect concern in Janet's voice.  As she hung up the phone she crossed the infirmary quickly to where he stood.

"Sir it's been sighted, level 25.  It attacked a couple of people and apparently it's still there.  They're currently trying to contain it.  General Hammond asked if you could head to the monitoring station on level 16.  General Carter, General Hammond asked if you could help with the search."

"Umm, " Jack said looking at Sam and Daniel, who were both sleeping peacefully, "I guess."  

It was obvious that Colonel O'Neill was not convinced about leaving but he went anyway.  Janet grabbed supplies and loaded them on to a gurney, which she pushed out of the infirmary.  Jacob followed her, with most of the medical staff following behind him, leaving the infirmary practically deserted.

***

Sam looked round, again finding herself in the now familiar surroundings of the fire on P4Y 379.  She turned and saw Colonel O'Neill standing on the opposite side of the fire.  The surroundings suddenly changed, Sam found herself in the SGC, she recognised it as level 16, O'Neill was still standing about six feet away from her and suddenly the creature appeared in front of him.

***

Sam woke, her eyes scanning the room for Colonel O'Neill, she knew he was in danger, this thing was after him now.  After the last dream she had Daniel was attacked and he was the first person she saw in that dream, O'Neill had been standing next to him, she had suspected he was going to be next but did not know what to say.  Her latest dream had just confirmed it.  Looking round Sam did not see O'Neill, or anyone for that matter except Daniel sleeping on the next bed.

Sam sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.  She winced as she stood, feeling a ripple of pain through her chest and abdomen.  She searched the infirmary for some clothes that would cover slightly more than the gown she was currently wearing.  She found some surgical scrubs and gently pulled them on, looking at the extensive bruising across her chest and stomach.  She gingerly peeled the tape from the dressing on her stomach, pulling a face as she saw the three-inch cut on her stomach, held together with neat stitches. 

She turned and left the infirmary, walking slowly and awkwardly due to the assortment of injuries plaguing her.  She headed to the nearest elevator, waiting impatiently for it to arrive.  She jabbed at the button for level 16, as the elevator arrived and the doors opened Sam did not see anything out of the ordinary.  She relaxed slightly, thinking that she had been mistaken.

She rounded the corner, a SF laid unconscious, his MP-5 next to him.  Sam knelt gingerly at his side to check his vital signs.  Finding a steady pulse and regular breathing Sam left the SF and taking the weapon continued her search.

As Sam turned the next corner, she knew she was on the right track.  Doors had been flung open; one had been ripped from its hinges and was laying across the corridor.   She looked into the first room, the lock had been smashed and the office ransacked, paper laid all over the floor and the furniture had been upturned.

Sam was shocked at the violence this thing was now displaying; she did not want to think about what it could do if it met up with its next target, Colonel O'Neill.  She had barely survived the attack at her house; sooner or later this thing was going to kill someone.

She left the office and continued down the corridor, checking every room in turn, in the last room she found Sergeant Siler laying halfway inside the door entrance, semi-conscious.  Sam knelt next to him.

"Sergeant, can you hear me?"  The resulting sound was somewhere between a grunt and a croak but Sam took it as an affirmative response.  "Did you see where it went Sergeant."

Siler did not answer; he just weakly raised his arm, pointing to the right.  Sam gently tapped the injured man's arm and stood, picking the phone from the floor she dialled the control room.

"This is Major Carter, I need security and a medical team to level 16 ASAP."  Sam did not wait for a response; she hung up the phone and slowly knelt beside Siler again.

"Med. team is on its way Sergeant."  Siler nodded slightly, obviously in pain.

She left the office and headed in the direction Siler had indicated.  She realised that she did not need directions, this thing was on a rampage, searching for something, or someone Sam thought, thinking back to her dream.  According to the dream, O'Neill was somewhere on this level and this thing seemed to know it as well.

Sam realised she was gaining on the creature, she could hear things being thrown around, sounds of a violent search.  She quickened her pace, she was not going any faster than a brisk walk but was already exhausted, the only thing that was keeping her going was adrenaline and the thought that Jack was in danger.

***

Jack had been in the monitoring station when he first heard the disturbance.  He ignored it at first but when it did not stop he opened the door and looked out, his years of military experience kicking in.  He took the gun from the holster he was wearing, as comfortable as he was carrying a gun he felt uneasy being armed on base.

As he sounds of violence increased and where punctuated by a feminine scream O'Neill quickened his pace.  As he reached the location of the disturbance he saw the creature that had put two of his team in the infirmary and was now on a rampage through the SGC. It had a female officer he did not recognise by the throat; she was still conscious, thrashing around in a futile effort to free herself from the grip she found herself in.

Seeing O'Neill enter the creature dropped the young officer to the floor, she fell hard and immediately pulled herself as far as she could from the creature while still gasping to regain her breath.

"So this your job, or are you just doin' it for kicks?" O'Neill asked dryly.  He levelled his gun at the chest of the creature, he had no idea if shooting it would help or where its vital organs were, assuming it had any in the first place, but like he had been taught he aimed for the centre of the target.

He was not about to wait for the first move.  He fired and emptied the clip into the thing he saw before him.  Jack marvelled at the creature since as it was hit with each bullet it took a step backward but did not fall. Instead it began to approach its intended target slowly.  Jack started backing away; he knew when he could not win a fight.  He needed backup; he had no chance of taking it down alone.

"Get security here NOW." He barked at the officer who was still sitting on the floor clutching her throat. Acknowledging the urgency she pulled herself up using the cabinet behind her, Jack turned and ran from the room.  He looked back only once to make sure he was being pursued.

"I must be crazy", he muttered.  There was a homicidal six foot grey blob on base and he was trying, and succeeding, to get it to follow him.  Jack decided that this was right up there in his 'Top 5 crazy things I have ever done' list, bumping agreeing to try Anise's armbands off the list.

Jack had to admit to himself that he had no idea what he was going to do.  As he ran he ejected the spent cartridge from the gun in his hand, he pulled a fresh clip from the holster, inserted it and chambered the first round in preparation.

As Jack turned the corner he realised that he had reached a dead end, he had nowhere else to go, he was going to have to face the creature on the spot.

***

Sam continued her search of the level in search of her superior officer.  She quickened her pace as she heard gun shots being fired and swore under her breath.  She turned corner after corner, frantically searching for O'Neill.  She turned another corner and saw him sitting on the floor against the wall, blood trickling from a small cut above his eye and from his left nostril.  With the 9mm pistol clutched in his hand he fired again, the creature's right shoulder span backwards and it retreated two steps also.

Jack saw Carter coming around the corner.  She did not look too good, she was breathing heavily, her face shining with a slight film of sweat and she was holding an MP-5 in her left hand.  O'Neill noticed the creature seemed to sense her approach almost before he did.

The creature made a move towards Carter.  There was no way she could survive another sustained attack and there was even less chance of Jack going to let it get near enough to attack her.  He charged headfirst at the creature, although football was not his game he still managed to pull of an impressive tackle, pushing the creature away from Carter. 

The tackle seemed slightly too powerful as he heard the unmistakable sound of a bone breaking as he collar bone gave way to the surprisingly solid mass of the creature.

Jack rolled away from the creature, holding his left arm to his chest and watched in horror as the creature straightened itself without an effort.  The look of shock on Carter's face, which had appeared as O'Neill made his tackle, was replaced by a look of determination.  The creature suddenly swiped an arm towards her, which threw Sam against the wall.  She gasped in pain and clutched her stomach as the twisting motion caused some of her stitches to tear.  To O'Neill's surprise and delight she remained on her feet. 

She raised her weapon; appreciating the light composition of the MP-5 she was carrying, and fired five rounds in to the creature's head at almost point blank range.  O'Neill seizing the opportunity fired a further two rounds into its head.

The creature fell to the floor, finally beaten, taking Carter with it.  She moaned in pain as its arm fell across her abdomen causing more damage to her already reopened wound.  

Jack quickly crossed to Sam and unceremoniously pulled the now silent creature off his second-in-command, she smiled weakly to thank him.  Jack noticed with some concern that there was already a small amount of blood on the surgical scrub top she was wearing.  Jack returned her smile with more gusto; she had just saved his life.

"You okay Carter?"

"Yes Sir.  You?"

"Peachy.  Not that I'm not grateful Carter, but what are you doing her."

"I um…I knew it was coming after you, Sir and there was no one in the infirmary so I came myself."

"Nice shot by the way."

"Yes Sir."

"You reckon it's dead?"

"I don't know, you think it has a pulse?"

"Umm…" Jack poked the creature with an outstretched finger, an unsure look on his face.  When it did not react he reached and felt for a pulse where he would on a human.  "Nothing, but not sure what that means."

Suddenly a security team rounded the corner, guns drawn.  

"Took your time didn't ya?"  Jack said tiredly.

"We got here as quick as we could Sir.  Do you need a medical team?"  Jack looked over at Sam who shook her head slightly.

"We can escort ourselves to the infirmary Sergeant.  The area needs securing, we don't know if this thing is dead, unconscious or what."

"Yes Sir."

Jack stood and gently helped Carter to her feet.  She winced slightly.  "You do know old doc Fraiser is going to have your ass."

Looking down and seeing the blood Sam nodded.  She knew the two things Janet hated most was when patients sneaked out the infirmary and did not take good care of their stitches.

Feeling sore from the fight they made their way slowly to an elevator and noticed a number of medics working on those who had met the creature along the way, thankfully there appeared to be no serious injuries.

When Jack and Sam made it to the infirmary the look on Janet's face that greeted them stopped O'Neill from making any of the sarcastic comments he was planning to.  Sam, without being asked took up the bed she had recently vacated.  Jack smiled as Janet drew the curtains around Sam's bed. Using her apparent sixth sense Janet stuck her head out through the curtains just long enough to address him sternly.

"Take a seat, I'll be with you in a minute Sir."  Her use of the word 'Sir' made it clear that if he was not a superior officer she would probably cause more damage to him than the creature had.

"Has she got X-ray vision or something?"  Jack remarked to no one in particular.  He chose the bed next to Daniel, who was now awake and had looked very relieved when Jack and Sam staggered into the infirmary earlier on.

"What happened Jack?"

"Carter saved my butt.  That thing came after me, Carter took it out with an MP-5."

"Is it dead?"

"Don't know, it was down and not getting back up.  Which is good enough for me."

"Is Sam alright."

"I think she pulled a couple of stitches but she's tough."

Daniel smiled and nodded.  "What about you?"

"Broken collar bone, no big deal", Jack replied flippantly.

"Course not Jack."

Jacob rushed into the infirmary, panic evident in his face.  "Jack, where's Sam?  Is she all right? What happened?"

"Firstly…she's with Doc Fraiser, secondly she's fine, no more major damage and thirdly she saved my life.  That thing came after me and she took care of it!"

After a few minutes Janet emerged from the curtains around Sam's bed but not before everyone could hear her clearly admonishing Sam for leaving the infirmary and pulling her stitches.  Jacob took the opportunity to check on his daughter.  Janet headed over to where O'Neill was, sitting on the edge of the bed, still cradling his arm.

"So Colonel?"

"Broken collar bone, football is **so **not my game."

"Sir?"

"I tried to tackle it, it's pretty solid."

"It looks broken," Janet said looking at his shoulder, "we'd better get an X-ray to be sure."

"Right." 

Janet stuck a temporary dressing over the cut above O'Neill's eye.  It was not serious since the bleeding had already stopped and it also did not look like it would need stitches.  Jack stood and headed off before he was forced to go in a wheelchair, something he considered to be the ultimate embarrassment.

Janet busied herself treating the other victims.  Eight people had crossed the path of the creature and were now entering the infirmary for treatment.  Miraculously there were no serious injuries, everyone realised it could have been much worse.

***

2 Days Later 

SG-1 sat around the table in the briefing room. , Both Sam and Jack had one of their arms in a sling. The bruises on Sam's face had faded significantly but were still clearly visible.  Daniel had a slight bruise on his face from his impact against the wall.  Teal'c was the only member of the team who had escaped unscathed.  Jacob sat next to Sam and Janet sat across from Daniel, they were waiting for Hammond so they could start the debriefing.

Hammond entered and took his seat at the head of the table.  "I have just been informed the creature has arrived at the Area 51 facility."

"Are we sure it's dead, I mean in horror films…"

Hammond cut him off  "Yes Colonel, we're sure."  The tone of his voice was the same as an adult talking to a petulant child.  "Initial analysis seems to show it has a high concentration of Naquadah within its body."

"That would make sense, it could explain why I was the only one to hear and why I knew where it was going."

"It could?"  O'Neill asked looking confused.

"It is possible Sir.  We don't really understand most of the properties of Naquadah, especially when incorporated into a life form.  I mean, Sha're communicated with Daniel through the ribbon device."

Hammond nodded, "Hopefully in-depth analysis will be able to tell us more, especially about the morphing powers it had."

"Yeah, that would be cool if we could do that."

"Yes Colonel", again the special tone he reserved for O'Neill moments such as this was back.

After half an hour's discussion the debriefing was finished.  

"So, Carter, any word 'bout when you're getting out of the infirmary?"  Jack asked as they stood, he noticed that both Jacob and Sam reacted to his comment.

"Tomorrow I hope."

"Nice."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."  
"I'll bet.  Five days of infirmary food and I'd be climbing the walls."

***

Jacob pulled up outside Sam's house in a borrowed Air Force car.  He could sense Sam was nervous about going back into her house after what had happened.

"You sure you're up to this Sam?"

Sam nodded, "I'm not being kept out my house by the memory of a dead alien."

Jacob just smiled.  His daughter was such a fighter, she was not going to let a memory keep her out of the house she loved and away from the work she had dedicated herself to.  As Sam entered her house Jacob realised the fears he had about his daughter's emotional well being were unfounded.  She had friends who would go to the end of the Earth and literally further to protect her and that was good enough for him.****

**OK, it's over with, phew!  Please, please review.  Tell me what you think!  I'm pretty new at this and need to know if I should carry on!  (Shameless begging moment, worrying I know!)**


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry, I added Falling Down chapter 5 to here in mistake. The last time I try and read without my glasses on.  
  
But, seeing as I've got you all here there is an epilogue for Shadows and Whispers coming soon so keep an eye out, it should be up some time in the next week!!! 


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